


The Phantom Corporal

by axayashinoceres



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Cop Eren, M for profanity, M/M, Phantom Thief Levi, Slow Build, riren - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-25
Updated: 2015-07-13
Packaged: 2018-02-18 18:09:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2357369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/axayashinoceres/pseuds/axayashinoceres
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He is a man in uniform. A masked man. A cloaked figure. And he has come for you, you shitty pigs. Prepare yourself. The Phantom Corporal will be dropping by.</p><p>“Stop right there!” cried a youth with the most fascinating emerald eyes.</p><p>With a smirk the masked man leapt away. “I have decided. My next target will be…”</p><p>You.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Chase Begins

“What the fuck is with this crude message?” one of the senior detectives threw up his hands and swore. He was one of the few detectives assigned to the confounding phantom thief case that’s running the media wild. And he, like the other experienced detectives assigned to the case, was unable to decipher the blatantly rude message the thief left on his calling card.

 

The message would have given them valuable information, if they could understand it. But no matter how many times they read it, it only looked like written swear words ranting at them.

 

So much for the neat and elegant writing. If the media finds out about this, the police department will be slaughtered and accused of defaming their beloved Phantom Corporal. All they could do was to issue a statement saying “We have yet to decipher the codes but our experts are already on it.”

  
“Code my ass,” another detective grumbled. “This guy’s just fucking with our heads. I don’t think there is a hidden message.” He tossed the plastic-encased card away and it landed at Eren’s feet as soon as he stopped walking.

Eren, the rookie detective, curiously picked up the evidence and briefly read its contents. After which, he tilted his head, looking confused about what it said.

 

“Hey there, rookie,” another detective noticed him and the plastic he’s holding. “Bring that over here, will ya? I bet you can’t see any message in it, too. Just some guy in costume swearing at us on that thing.”

 

Eren looked up from the card and gave it back to that detective, still looking confused. “I don’t know what you mean. To me it says he’ll be going after some kind of emerald pendant at midnight two weeks from now. Are you reading it right? Do you need glasses or something?” he asked them, sincerely worried.

 

It was like all ears had been on Eren because after he spoke, the whole office went quiet. The phones rang unanswered. And everyone was practically gaping at him.

 

“…What?” Eren asked, feeling defensive because of all the attention.

 

“What.”

 

“The.”

 

“FUCK!?”

 

And suddenly it was like someone pressed the ‘play’ switch. Everyone began moving around quickly and pretty soon they all surrounded the detectives studying the calling card again. They all wanted to see how correctly a rookie read the shitty message.

 

“You serious? Are you shitting us, rookie?”

 

“How did you translate this?”

 

Eren, feeling annoyed for being doubted, snatched the piece of evidence and began pointing out which parts of the message translated to what he said earlier.

 

“See this part that says the ‘green thing around your neck’? I thought it would be some kind of green jewel and a pendant’s usually worn around the neck, right? But other kinds of jewelry or precious stone could be green so I could be wrong.” They obediently looked at the indicated parts and swiftly looked at his face avidly as he explained.

 

“But the next part said something about ‘shoving it up your asses’ and normally you would take that at face value. But then I thought what if it was some kind of clue on what type of jewel it was. So I thought up of stuff that could be shoved up one’s ass that could indicate a jewel. The closest thing I got was a rod and it rhymes with ‘emerald’ somehow. Y’know? ‘Eme-rod.’ So, yeah.”

 

“As for the two weeks, it says so right here about seeing ‘you fucking uniforms in two weeks.’ I thought that was pretty obvious.” Eren shrugged.

 

“But what about the time? How’d you figure it would be midnight?” one of the cops not assigned to the case, asked curiously, looking awed at the young man’s deductive reasoning, though in all honesty, a crude kid could’ve deduced that easily.

“He did mention ‘twelve balls’. I don’t think he meant twelve guys because the message would sound so wrong. And if you change ‘balls’ to ‘bells’, it would be the number of times a clock tolls when it strikes midnight,” he finished.

 

“What the fuck!?” one of the senior detectives whispered. And Eren was beginning to notice the repetitiveness of that crude exclamation.

  
“Where the fuck were you when the first notice came in, rookie!?” their detective co-worker asked.

Eren took that as a personal affront like he was being accused of not doing his job. “I bagged a case. I was doing my job, not slacking off!” He tossed back the evidence and started to stride away angrily.

 

“Wa-wa-wa-wait, wait, wait, WAIT!” the detective heading the phantom thief case, snagged Eren’s arm, forcing him to face them. “Detective Jaeger, how would you like to handle this case?” he asked seriously.

 

Eren frowned, suspicious of the offer. He checked for any signs of lies or mockery in the senior detective’s eyes and was satisfied with what he saw. He nodded sharply. “I would like to, very much.”

 

The old-timer beamed and looked towards the open door of the Police Chief’s office. “Hear that, Chief? Our rookie here’s taking the case. That thief is as good as gone!”

 

The chief surveyed them all and nodded. “If you need any resources, Jaeger, just come and ask for them. Now get back to work.” He went back into his office and shut the door to the loud cheering of the cops outside.

 

And Eren was blushing and beaming, happy to be finally recognized with the full support of the police force. He finally felt like he belonged.

 

There lay the piece of evidence on the table. That one thing won Eren his first major case after being promoted to detective. On it, written in elegant script, the words written were:

 

_Dear Shitty Pigs,_

_I’ll be taking that green thing around your neck and shove it up your asses. You’ll need twelve balls to face me. I’ll be seeing your fucking uniforms in two weeks._

_Fuck you.  
_

_Sincerely,_

_Corporal_

 

The chase has only just begun. 


	2. First Chase

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For now, my updates seem fast to you guys. After this though, well... Let's just say I always start fast and then I'll slow down like a snail on a train race. 
> 
> Patience is a virtue~~ XDD

A masked military man with a long cloak hid behind the shades of the trees surrounding the fancy mansion that seemed more like a freak accident of an attempt in architecture. His sharp eyes took note of the extra guards on the lawn.

 

“Ho~~ Looks like those shitty cops finally learned a little,” he muttered, eyes glinting in the moonlight. Judging by the extra security, there are probably more guarding inside the mansion. The real question is if they understood his advance notice and managed to figure out what the target is this time.

 

His first notice was thought to be some kind of prank. It was almost too painful to think back on on how easy that first heist was. The second heist fared no better. His notice was still thought of as a prank but the shitty pig he targeted that time was completely paranoid. Just in case the prank wasn’t a prank, he had installed more security guards and anti-theft tech. All that cash wasted for nothing. The fucking idiot. The second heist didn’t even pose any challenge to him.

 

By the third heist, people were starting to acknowledge his notices and took them seriously. His third target was too full of himself, however. He upgraded his security just like the previous idiot. But this time, this pig hired a lot of muscle. Just some tough guys with more brawn than brains, whose muscles seem filled with air with how little strength they actually had when fighting him.

 

It was fun to toy with them that particular heist. Needless to say, he made a lot of mess on the courtyard and left the inside of the household with one less item. It made his mood light, up until the next heist and the following heists after that. Especially when they got the police involved. Not like it helped them any.

 

His notices couldn’t be deciphered and all they could get out of it was the date of his next heist. Not the target object, not the time, just the blatant insults and the fucking date. Incompetent shitheads. Usually they’d have one detective to head the case but they assigned, what - seven senior detectives on his case? Idiots.

 

There was even one heist where they still couldn’t decipher his notice but secured the mansion just the same, thinking that the object he would be pilfering was somewhere inside the house. They were guarding the wrong place. The slimy pig had stashed the target in his office safe and didn’t even let the cops know. It felt like the first heist all over again.

 

Something seemed different tonight, however. The masked thief wasn’t sure what exactly changed but something was charging the air, making him tingle in anticipation. He licked his lips and adjusted his leather gloves. He was looking forward to tonight.

 

 _“Hey~~ Mr. Phantom Corporal!”_ an annoying voice came over his earpiece. _“Are you ready for another easy job tonight?”_

 

The phantom thief snorted at the question. “Oi, four-eyes, something feels different. There are less men tonight.”

 

 _“Hmm? Perhaps they managed to decode your creative, swear-filled notice?”_ the woman guessed in a cheerful voice. _“Is this going to be a problem for you?”_

 

“Heh. Not a chance. I’ll be enjoying this new game plan of theirs.”

 

Just as he finished saying those words, the grandfather clock located somewhere inside the mansion released its loud toll, echoing throughout the silent night. One, two, three. It kept its toll up until the twelfth toll, signalling the start of a new day.

 

_Twelve midnight._

 

Predictably the guards around the perimeter tensed, eyes looking everywhere. But the house remained quiet. No word came from a detective, checking on his subordinates, not even a static over their radio receivers.

The cloud chose that moment to cover the moon and that’s when the thief struck. Lightning fast, he leapt out of the trees, two cables shot from the machine attached to his hips, and dug its steel tips to the top of a tower. With a twist of his body, he passed through the guards, leaving them unconscious before they could react. He let his body relax and go limp, pulled by the momentum of the cables and the machine raveling again.

A little movement there, and the cables retracted from the walls and pulled back into place as the Phantom Corporal landed gracefully on the balcony of the room where his target was hidden. His cloak fluttered behind him before settling down around his body, like giant raven wings that settled after a flight.

As soon as his shadow hit the french doors, they burst open. But before the occupants could even aim their guns and say a word, he already flew in and knocked them all out, save for one. He confirmed then, that his message had been successfully decoded. There were more cops in this room and judging by the silence, they congregated here. They did not spread out throughout the house like they had been doing until tonight.

And looks like there’s been a change in management. The usual senior detectives were nowhere in sight. In fact, this young one standing before him was the only detective in the vicinity. The face was unfamiliar. He must be newly assigned to this case. The masked man didn’t know what to make of it. Where they already giving up?

“Tsk!” He turned his back on the boy and went for the dresser where the lady of the house kept all her precious jewelries. A cock of a gun from behind him caused him to stop and look over his shoulder at the detective.

“Stop right there!”

\- - - - -    

 

“Stop right there!” Eren called out in a warning tone, cursing himself when he heard his voice waver. He was seething mad and at the same time beyond excited. Admittedly the opponent swiftly got rid of the others, and the way he did it was mesmerizing, it rooted him to the spot.

 

But to not be treated the same way, that’s what’s making him so mad. He was blatantly disregarded. He wasn’t even seen as a threat to be temporarily neutralized. What kind of asshole is this guy?

 

He started, when the thief stalked towards him quickly, despite the added weight the contraption around his hips gave him. He frantically pointed his gun at the man but the man fearlessly grabbed hold of his hands and pointed the muzzle to the ceiling.

 

He could see the eyes glinting through the holes of the mask, and he could feel himself slowly drowning in them. The man leaned closer to his face, making him gulp, his heart pounding like a drum parade.

 

The moon chose that moment to shine through the balcony and lit up the room. For a second there he thought the phantom thief was caught by surprise but the look quickly disappeared. The man leaned so close he could feel the other’s breath on his face. It smelled like black tea, oddly.

 

“...You…”

 

The masked man’s voice sent delicious tingles down his spine. But he never for a second took his eyes off this criminal. Speaking of the criminal, his lips lifted up into a smirk. And he tensed, expecting belittling words. He was in for a surprise.

 

“You forgot to remove the safety.”

 

The words took a while to register in his mind. But by the time it did, he realized that the thief left him alone and had already taken the pendant from the jewelry box. He hurriedly removed the safety on his gun and chased after the cloaked man who was already standing on the balcony again, preparing to leave.

 

“Hey! I said hold it!” He pointed the gun and forced himself not to hesitate to shoot the guy. Behind him, the others were already slowly regaining consciousness.

 

The Phantom Corporal looked over his shoulder, giving him that infuriating smirk once more, one leg on the marble rail. “I am holding it. See you around, brat. Tonight was fun.”

 

Eren spluttered in anger and pulled the trigger, but the man had already leapt off. The bullet hit the railing instead. He ran to look out over the balcony, only to see the masked man in a ceremonial military attire using his strange contraption again, shooting off into the tall forest. He cursed loudly as he put his gun away safely.

 

“Detective Jaeger,” one of  the officers groaned, limping towards him. “Are you alright?”

 

“Alright.” He muttered sarcastically. “He didn’t even see me as a threat. And I couldn’t stop him from getting what he came for, damn it!”

 

The officer winced, understanding fully what failure tasted like. And he knew that this rookie detective was also feeling frustrated for not being taken seriously. “It’s alright, detective. With you on the case, we can at least make it harder for him.”

 

“Yeah,” another officer spoke up as he joined them on the balcony, clutching his bruised ribs. “You decoded his notices easily. Things will only get harder for him from now on. Tonight was just you feeling each other out. You just made catching him a whole lot easier for us. We’ll get him next time for sure.”

 

“I hope so. I really hope so.” Because loathe as he was to admit it, he wanted to see that man again, to hear that voice speak to him in a low whisper. And he’d like to see him rotting behind bars, that annoying smirk wiped off his face.

  
_This is just round one, you thief. Just you wait. I’ll unmask you and put you behind bars if it’s the last thing I do._

 


	3. First Impression

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh yay! It's my sister's birthday today and she's a fan of SnK. She also likes to read my stories. If you know KATastrofic, she is NOT the sister I'm talking about haha~ We have another younger sister.
> 
> It has been a long time coming and I'm sorry to have taken so long. Story-wise things are starting to pick up! As KAT who is usually my editor, is in school at the moment, there might be some mistakes in this chapter. If you happen to notice them please let me know immediately so that I can edit it right away.
> 
> Thank you for your patience, patronage, and cooperation. You people are awesome!

Eren Jaeger sat in his table, looking broodingly at the report on his computer screen. He just finished writing his report on the heist that happened last night. Thinking of it made him remember that masked man, and thinking of that made shivers run down his spine. It made him seethe more than ever to have such a reaction over something insignificant like the prey he was supposed to be hunting.

“Eren? Did you catch a cold?” Mikasa  leaned down over him to check his temperature.

The green-eyed officer pulled his head away from her cold hand and scowled. “I’m not sick, Mikasa. Stop trying to mother me.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. We’re family and if you’re sick, don’t hide it from me,” she retorted vehemently.

“Whatever. I’m a responsible adult and a detective in this precinct. I shouldn’t let a little cold get me down.”

“If you’re so responsible, you should know when to stop and rest when being sick and still trying to work on the field will get you in the way of the others, thereby endangering their lives because you will be nothing but a sick burden.”

He could not say anything against that. He sighed in frustration and emailed his report to the Chief of Police before closing the document and shutting his computer down. “I’m really fine, Mikasa. I don’t have a cold and I’m not running a fever. You’re as worse as Mom.”

She rested her hip on a corner of his desk and looked down at him. “I think Mom is worse, considering how much we worry her for both being in the police force. At least she would have liked for you to follow in Dad’s footsteps.”

“And she would prefer you to find a husband, get married, and become a full-time housewife like her,” Eren retorted blandly.

“...True. Congratulations on getting the case, by the way. I only heard about it when I came in last night and you were already staking the house.”

Mikasa Ackerman, his adoptive sister, had been busy with an undercover case that lasted a whole four weeks before they bagged the perps and brought them in last night. She hadn’t been able to go home that long as well, as a safety precaution that comes with undercover work.

“You, too. Congrats on cracking your case. Mom kept staring at the phone like she wanted to make you a call.”

“Thanks. At least she knows how dangerous that is for me. What happened last night anyway?”

Eren leaned back on his office chair and just stared at the ceiling with its visible cracks and discolorations. “I think I was played with. But we sure caught him by surprise. He didn’t expect a bunch of officers waiting for him in the master bedroom.”

“...But you still didn’t catch him.”

“That guy, he had straps all over his body, connected to that weird machinery hanging around his hips. It acted like a grappling hook machine and the way he used those ropes is just… it’s nothing I’ve seen done before.”

“You didn’t get to ID him?” Mikasa asked curiously, interest piqued. It seems that her brother is especially intrigued with this case.

“He’s wearing a mask, Mikasa. I tried to incapacitate him, heck I straight out threatened to shoot him but he just blew me off like some dust he could just brush off. He knocked them all out, Mikasa. All of them, except me. He took me for a smallfry, a detective, over the other officers he practically littered the ground with.”

"Should I give you a hand on this case?"

"No. I'm gonna catch him no matter what!" Eren made a fist and stared hard at it, filled with determination.

 

\- - - - -

A raven-haired man was perched on the window sill, looking down at the gardens below, thoughtful. Silent. His sharp eyes seemed to see something beyond the lush greenery. Something only he could see.

Then the door to the room he was in, slammed open, breaking more than just the silence.

"Levi! I finally got the floor plans and security points of the next target," A bespectacled woman said in a very loud voice.

For a second he was tempted to reprimand her viciously but decided to forego it for more important matters. "What about the exit route? Any more grunts I have to get rid off?"

"I have their rotation schedules as well as the routes they take. As for your escape route, you have three exit points to choose from. But I'm sure you can improvise here like you always do."

“...Hanji.”

The woman fixed her eyeglasses, its lens glinting momentarily. “Oh? What’s this? You’ve gotten serious all of a sudden. Do you want to stop?”

“Don’t joke around, damn four-eyes,” he eyed her seriously. “Those pigs have to pay back what’s due. I’m just collecting the goods, forcefully.”

“Well if this isn’t about you wanting to stop now… then what has got you all tense?” Hanji Zoe took a seat on a chair and contemplated his profile. “Perhaps, it is about the recent heist?”

“... The detective they sent to handle the case is a brat. I’ve never seen eyes lit so much with determination, honest to fucking damn serious, I swear if given the chance he would have caught me.”

“Ha! The day I’d hear you compliment someone has finally come. I didn’t expect it to be over a detective, however. Erwin will be amused to hear this!” She sent him a mischievous smile but only received a glare in return.

“It’s no use to talk about this now,” he sighed in defeat, returning his gaze to the view outside the window. “The next heist after this,” he began just as Hanji stood to leave.

She paused by the door she had partially opened, waiting for him to finish his sentence.

“I’ll decide the next one,” he finished. The silence dragged on between them.

“I probably know what that’s about. And I do trust your judgment, but please allow me to hear your plans for the next heist. We can’t let you be caught, as much as possible.”

He said nothing to that. And it was answer enough for the woman. “Take a rest. You need it. Good afternoon, Levi.” She shut the door gently after her, leaving the man to brood on his own some more. Even so, she can’t wait to tell Erwin about their conversation.

Her mouth was stretched in a wide grin. It scared Moblit more than usual when they saw each other along the way.

 

\- - - - -   

A frustrating week has passed since the near capture of the Phantom Corporal, when the precinct received word from the thief’s next intended victim about receiving an advanced notice from the said thief. Eren had been given no other cases, all his focus on the phantom thief case only. All week he reviewed and re-reviewed all files pertaining to the heists, and if his sister deemed he needed to take a break, she’d drag him to the precinct’s gym where they sparred (one-sidedly on Mikasa’s part).

So one could say that Detective Eren Jaeger has been eagerly anticipating for the next notice to come. And it did. The target is a renowned international businessman, single, thrice divorced, and most of all, livid. He has been known to support political campaigns for the past twenty years, and has a lot of friends in high places. When he came in, storming actually, into the Commissioner’s office, Eren perceived one thing about the suited man - that he’s a dirty predator.

His aura practically reeks with it.

And Eren knew that this man could not be trusted.

“Here’s the notice,” he slapped a card the size of a one-fourth index card, that was placed inside a plastic much like an evidence bag, onto the table. “My prints are on it, and my butler’s, hell, even the mailman’s for all I know. But I made sure no one else took hold of it after I discovered its contents. I can’t make out the meaning within that trash talk but I want you and your men to catch him before he even reaches ten meters from whatever it is he’s planning to steal from me.”

Eren and his superior could only gape at the man’s sheer audacity. Not even a word of greeting, and he wouldn’t even let the commissioner talk before he opened his pompous trap and started yapping away like he owned the place.

“Of course, Mr.Wolfgang. If you could please sit, then we can talk some more-” the detective’s superior began but was rudely cut off.

“I have a meeting to get ready for in thirty minutes. So I’d rather not sit and talk this out any longer than necessary, if you don’t mind. Who can interpret this rubbish and how fast can he interpret it so that we can get all the details out of the way.”

”Detective Eren Jaeger, sir. I’d like to take my time in analyzing the notice to get the details properly. But since you don’t have time… Why not let me know the most pressing information you want to know, and as for the rest of the details, we’ll just have to contact you,” the green-eyed detective stepped up to intervene immediately.

“...Right. Just read it and tell me what info you have that you’re absolutely sure of, Detective.” The man cleared his throat uncomfortably, taken by surprise momentarily.

“Of course...:” Eren took the card his superior passed to him and read it silently, eyes skimming the lines. He spotted the figure of the black pig printed  on the card, and the weird image of two wings at the back, and knew that the notice is authentic, not done by some copycat.

“For a while, sir. How did you know the authenticity of this notice?” Eren thought to ask the businessman.

“I have friends in high places, youngster. People like us, we have mutual friends. So no matter how embarrassing it is to be a victim of some masquerade-playing thief, mutual friends talk. They simply described the card, and I listened,” the man finished, talking down to him like he was a child without even taking his eyes away from documents, no doubt for the meeting he mentioned earlier.

“I see. Well, according to this advanced notice, the next heist will be ten days from now, at two in the morning. As to where and what, I can’t say for sure yet.”

“Right, if you know the rest of the details, contact me via my personal assistant. And once this gets to the planning stage, I want to be in on it, every step of the way. God knows how incompetent people in your profession are  these days.”

A man, they didn’t notice until now but could be presumed to be Mr. Wolfgang’s personal assistant, stepped up from behind his employer and handed over his calling card. And just like that, the two were gone.

“What a difficult customer,” Eren couldn’t help but comment.

“Yes, well. This Phantom Corporal sure knows how to pick ‘em. Any luck on finding motives and connections between each heists, Jaeger?”

“None so far, Chief. I think I need to dig a little deeper. All the stolen items still haven’t surfaced, whether in any pawnshops or even the black market,” Eren reported.

“That’s odd. Anyway, what does the note say?”

Eren looked down at the notice in his hand, green eyes blazing.

“It says - ”

 

 ****  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, cliffhanger.. XD
> 
> HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIS!!!
> 
> *update*
> 
> I have also just posted this on tumblr (though I suck at making blogs so if anyone could help me beautify my blog that would be super awesome). 
> 
> My username there is the same as my username here~~


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